6 Books Unite
by nightheartbattles
Summary: What happens when war unites many different worlds? How will the characters react knowing that there was more to the non-mortalworld than they ever knew? Find out in 6 Books Unite!
1. Falling to Camp Half Blood

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery and Evie.**

* * *

**Percy's Point of View**

"Hey, hey, Percy!" I caught sight of my best friend, Grover, running towards me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"These kids just fell out of the sky!" he said excitedly.

"Wait.. what?"

"Really! I was surprised too, but a note fell on top of them. Haven't read it yet. Everyone's waiting for you! Come on!"

"How many kids are there?" I wondered.

"About 12," Grover told me. "They don't all know each other, either!"

I was getting interested. "Okay, I said. Let's go!"

* * *

**Eragon's Point of View**

It was just a normal day for me. Well, as normal as it could be while riding a dragon with the elf Queen flying alongside me. So, pretty normal. We were circling above the mountains when it happened. There was a flash of light, and we were in a large field, surrounded by kids.

"Um, Arya?" I said cautiously.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"I don't think we're on Vroengard anymore," I said. "Or anywhere in Algäesia."

"I agree. There are no dragons. We are the only two Riders here."

"So then, if we're not in Alagäesia..." I began.

"Where are we?" Arya finished.

* * *

**Harry's Point of View**

"Harry, Hermione, Ron!" Dean was running towards us with a piece of parchment in his hand.

"What is it, Dean?" Hermione asked.

"Note... from... Hogwarts!" Dean managed to gasp out in reply. "Here," he said, holding out to me, before running away again.

"What do you think it could be?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"Harry, open it and find out," Ron said impatiently.

I slit the seal on the folded-up note and unfolded the parchment.

"It says," I began.

"Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger are requested to visit me in my office immediately.

Professor McGonagall

P.S: Dumbledore thought galloping gargoyles were funny."

"Well?" Hermione glared at Ron and I. "We'd better get going!"

We Apparated towards the grounds' gates, then walked inside the grounds (after being let in by a reluctant Filch) and towards the gargoyles guarding Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Galloping gargoyles," I said as we reached them.

"Don't know why Dumbledore thought that's funny," the one on the left grumbled.

"Yeah. Gargoyles don't gallop," agreed the one on the right.

Nevertheless, they let us through and onto the self-spiralling staircase leading to Dumbledore's office.

I knocked once before hearing McGonagall call, "Come in!"

He was talking to a man with a very large beard, a mustache, and two very thick eyebrows.

"Are these the ones?" the man asked McGonagall.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "These are the three I've chosen."

"What do you mean, Professor?" Hermione asked.

Always the polite one, she was.

"Ah, this man will be taking you somewhere to meet up with some other... unusual... children," McGonagall told us.

"What kind of unusual?" I asked warily.

"Oh, you'll see when you get there!" McGonagall's reply was cryptic and frustrating, as per usual.

The strange man pulled a pocket watch from his - well, his pocket.

"You'd better be off," he said, smiling at us.

I didn't understand what he meant, but all of a sudden, a gold light enveloped us, and I could feel myself falling.

* * *

**Sadie's Point of View**

"Carter, stop being an idiot," I said. Again. I'd said the same thing five minutes ago. I rolled my eyes. _Boys_, I thought.

I told him he'd break something. Of course that's what ended up happening. Carter threw the ball he was bouncing around, and it hit a vase. I rolled my eyes again, sure Horus was going to scold him, or Isis was going to tell me to scold him. Instead, we were suddenly falling towards a large field - with two dragons standing in it. _Uh oh_, I gulped.

* * *

**Seth's Point of View**

"Hey, Kendra, hey, hey Kendra!" I called to my big sis. She looked.

I tossed the carrot I was holding towards Mendigo. He did an amazing catch.

"Nice throw," Kendra praised. I beamed. Mendigo threw the carrot back to me - a little too hard. Fortunately for me, I never had the chance to catch it. The three of us were suddenly falling. Towards what, I didn't know. I closed my eyes.

* * *

**Java's Point of View**

"Avery, run again," I called to one of my best friends, who was standing at the furthest point from me on our school field. Hs aim was to run around the school field twice, then back to me.

"Ready," I called. He nodded. "Set," I called. He crouched. "GO!"

All too soon, he was standing by my side.

"How long did that take?" he asked eagerly.

"Oh, only... three seconds less than your record!" We hi-fived. I came out of that with a very sore palm.

"Sorry," Avery told me.

"Really, you need to watch your strength," I grumbled.

"Hey, Evie!" Avery called, looking up. I followed his gaze, trying to find my other best friend.

"Yeah?" she called back from right above us.

"How'd that look?" I yelled up.

She didn't get time to answer. She dropped from the sky, and we toppled into the blackness.


	2. Analysis

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery and Evie.**

* * *

**Percy's Point of View**

"Hey, guys!" I called to the thirteen kids assembled by Half-Blood Hill.

Some of the kids were picking themselves up off the ground. Others were dusting themselves off. Two of the kids were sitting dragonback. Yes. Dragonback. I shouldn't have been surprised really. My friend, Leo, had a pet dragon. The difference was, his was an automaton. These two were _real_.

I quickly reviewed the kids. Obviously there were two riding dragons. Three of them were wearing black wizards' cloaks. I didn't get why. Then it occurred to me that maybe they were wizards. I mean, if demigods exist, why not wizards?

There was a boy and a girl wearing matching outfits. Each one wore an amulet around their neck. I recognized the symbol the boy was wearing. The Eye of Horus. Did that mean these kids were Egyptian? I knew enough about gods to believe that if there were Greek and Roman there'd be Egyptian too.

There was another pair, also a boy and a girl. Both of them were wearing normal, everyday clothes that a normal, everyday kid would wear, but I didn't let that fool me. I looked like that when I wasn't at Camp Half-Blood too, and I certainly wasn't normal. Also, next to them was a puppet. What Grover had first taken to be a kid was actually a life-sized wooden puppet. It reminded me of Pinocchio. _I've got no strings, to hold me down_, I thought thinking of Apollo's most likely reaction to the puppet.

The third set of children was a group consisting of two girls and a boy. One of the girls had hair like the wizard girl - super frizzy. This girls hair was a soft brown, though, rather than ash blonde. It took me a moment to notice that she was hovering two feet off the ground. That shocked me. Then again, Jason could fly. So, whatever. The other girl was watching the others, along with the now-crowding campers, very closely. It looked like she was listening to their thoughts. I tried not to think anything mean, just in case she was listening. The last boy scared me. He was glancing around nervously, making blindingly fast movements. Occasionally he'd almost disappear, only to reappear two feet from where he was standing. He'd make these movements in the blink of an eye. I didn't get my biggest fright until he looked up at me. I could see the similarities, and all I knew of what I looked like was what I saw in the mirror. He had black hair, like mine. He was tense, the way I was when analyzing new surroundings. He also looked like he was planning something. I knew that strategic look. Annabeth had that look all the time. His eyes were bright; very green. No, wait, blue. No, hazel. No, brown. No, black. No, - hopeless. His eye colour kept changing. His two friends were obviously trying to calm him down. I automatically knew I didn't want to be opposing this kid. He was about my age, but looked a whole lot scarier. He had that... Nico look, like he'd been to hell and back. Like Nico did when he came out of Tartarus. I guessed Annabeth and I had only been a little better. But still. This kid scared me.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and a girl with purple, punk-style hair del from the sky.

"Olivia!" the flying girl exclaimed.

"Ta da!" Olivia said. Even the boy smiled.

The group looked at Annabeth, Grover and I expectantly. Well, of course they'd look at us. We were right at the front of the group of campers

I took a deep breath. I knew it was time for introductions.


	3. Introductions

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery and Evie.**

* * *

**Annabeth's Point of View**

"Go on, Seaweed Brain. Take them to the Big House."

My boyfriend stepped forward. "Hello, pe ople of I-don't-know-where," he began. I rolled my eyes. "I would like to escor t you to our Headquarters, the Big House . This way please!"

He began walking towards the Big House. The newcomers followed. I brought up the rear, keeping the campers away from the poor kids, dragons and puppet.

Chiron was waiting for us.

"Ah, you've arrived! Eragon, Arya, leave Saphira and Firnen here. Leo!" he calle d.

The hyperactive demigod bounced over to Chiron.

"You know how to take care of a real, li ving dragon?"

Leo nodded.

"Not just an automaton?"

Leo nodded.

"Could you please take Saphira and Firne n somewhere away from here? They need t o be settled down."

"Sure, Chiron!" Leo saluted before walki ng over to Eragon and Arya.

* * *

**Leo's Point of View**

"Saphira's yours?" I asked Eragon. Erago n nodded stiffly. "What's her food pref erence?"

I was shocked when Saphira answered hers elf.

_I don't really mind,_ she said. _Anything, from deer, to sheep, to anythi ng that tries to hurt Eragon._

"Okay, so not a fussy eater!" I joked. " And Firnen?" I asked Arya.

_The same,_ Firnen replied.

"Okay!" I stood and waited while Eragon and Arya climbed of their dragons' backs .

Chiron led the group inside, and the two Riders reluctantly followed.

* * *

**Percy's Point of View**

We crowded around the ping-pong table, a lso known as our counsellors' meeting t a ble.

Chiron cleared his throat. "I would like you all to introduce yourselves with an y full titles," he said, glancing at Ar y a as he said 'full titles.' "This incl ud es any extra abilities. That includes yo u," he looked over at the campers I hadn 't noticed that were already in the room . "We'l begin with you three," he said, looking at the wizards.

The girl introduced herself first. "I'm Hermione Granger, Muggleborn wizard and proud of it!"

Rachel squealed, while the other campers , including me, looked confused. The fl y ing girl nodded her head at Rachel.

One of the boys, a ginger, stepped forwa rd and said, "I'm Ronald Weasley, Hermi o ne's boyfriend, but just call me Ron."

Then the other boy, with black hair and green eyes - like me, I know, but his ey es were sparkling green, not sea green - introduced himself. "I'm Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, killer of Voldemort, the Dark Lord."

Rachel squealed again. Everyone looked a t her pointedly.

"I know who you are!" she blurted. "Ever ything about you! I know all of you actu ally, except- " she looked at the flying girl and her friends, "you four. I have n't read about you yet."

"Umm, sorry to interrupt," the ginger bo y began, "but how do you know us?"

"You've all had books written about your adventures! I've read them all! I promi se to stop squealing if I can have all o f your autographs later!"

The newcomers agreed.

"Okay, Rachel, calm down," Chiron ordere d. "The Riders?"

The boy stepped forward first. "I'm Erag on Bromsson, Shadeslayer, Kingkiller, an d Dragon Rider, also said as Shur'tugal and Argetlam, and trainer of the new Ri d ers."

"And I am Queen Arya, Queen of the Elves . I am also Shadeslayer and Shur'tugal. "

"Question," the scrutinizing girl starte d, "Why do they call you Argetlam? I kno w it means Silver Hand, but why?"

Eragon and Arya lifted their palms to th e group. They shared a glance, like, _How does she know that?_

"I think we'll just go round the table n ow," Chiron suggested.

"Okay!" the Egyptian girl said. "I'm Sad ie, host of the Egyptian goddess, Isis. Yes, yes, shut up, Isis!" She glanced at us. "Did I say that out loud?"

Everyone cracked up.

The dark-skinned Egyptian boy introduced himself after his companion. "I'm Carte r, Sadie's brother." He let that sink i n . Sadie and him shared a glance. I did n' t need to be a mind-reader to know th ey were wondering what people would thin k of a brother and sister looking nothin g a like. No one spoke. They seemed reli eved that no one wondered about their si bling-ship. "I'm Horus's host. And when I argue with him I do not shout out loud ."

Sadie glared at him.

"Usually," Carter added. Sadie relaxed

"I'm Seth!" the normally-dressed boy sai d. He reminded me of Leo and Nico - a hy peractive boy with a curiosity that woul d get everyone around him in trouble. "I 'm a Shadow-man!" People laughed nervou sly before the girl with him, whom I ass umed to be his sister, cut them off.

"Don't laugh. Seth has a magical darknes s in him that allows him to do things y ou've never dreamed of being able to do. "

"Yeah! Like talk to evil monsters that w ould otherwise eat me! And becoming invi sible in shadows!"

The demigods glanced at each other. Hade s would so be jealous, I thought.

"I got it from touching an evil talisman . I was lucky I survived that," Seth gr imaced.

"Anyway..." the girl glared at her broth er. "I'm Kendra, Seth's sister. I'm fai r y kind, which is the opposite of Seth. R ather than being blessed by darkness, I was blessed by light."

"Cool!" came a voice from the shadows. E veryone stared. I laughed when I saw wh o it was. He had certainly not been ther e two seconds ago, and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"I would introduce myself," he began, "b ut it's not my turn yet. So I'll wait."

I caught Annabeth's eye. We shared a sma ll smile. Nico never waited for anythin g .

The flying girl saw that. She frowned be fore beginning to speak. "I'm Evelyn Be l lum, but please call me Evie, and I'm an Air Spirit."

People looked confused (and I won't pret end I wasn't one of them), so she gave a small demonstration. She pushed off, a n d hovered in the air for a moment, bef or e doing a triple somersault. Then Evi e h eld her hand out in front of her and sta red at it, concentrating very hard. Righ t before our very eyes, she create d a mi niature tornado! Everyone gasped.

I heard Nico whisper to Thalia and Jason , "That was cooler that what you guy do!" I heard the electricity spark t he air before Nico complained.

The scrutinizing girl laughed. "I'll adm it, that was my first reaction too. It' s pretty cool. But don't get on her bad s ide. That tornado can get pretty big w he n she's angry!"

It reminded me of the Titan war when I w as sixteen. I'd made a tornado-hurrican e thing then, too.

"I'm Java Sparks," the girl continued. " I have psychological x-ray vision."

I understood her scrutinizing stare. She was analyzing our emotions. Creepy.

"Seaweed Brain, am I really creepy?" she asked with a laugh.

"Wait, what, how did you..?" I stammered .

"You smell like fish," she explained.

Annabeth analysed Java. "Okay, firstly, I agree with you, he does smell like fis h, but secondly, no one, no one at all, calls him Seaweed Brain." Her glare was so terrifying, Java backed down.

"Except you," I whispered to Annabeth. S he smiled.

"Awwww!" Java squealed.

"What is it this time?" Evie sighed.

"They love each other! A lot! It's so cu te! And, frankly, more than I can bear! "

Evie gave Annabeth and I an apologetic g lance before attempting to calm Java do w n.

"I'm Olivia!" the purple-haired girl san g. She'd been so quiet this whole time I 'd forgot she was there. "Olivia Jones ! And, watch this!"

She disappeared. There was a moment of s ilence before...

"OW!"

Olivia reappeared, laughing. Nico was ru bbing the back of his head. Everyone la u ghed along with the demigods. I think Th alia laughed the loudest.

"Cool," two voices said in unison. I'll give you one guess as to who said that.

The dark-haired boy was still glancing a round. I realized why. He looked scared . No, more than that. He looked terrifie d . I wondered why.

"Uh... I... I'm Avery Sullivan, and I... " he looked at Chiron pleadingly.

"In this case, I'm not going to ask for his full title. However, I will say part of it. Avery has foresight. Not quite a s foreboding and cryptic as our Oracle, but foresight nevertheless."

Avery looked at our centaur activities d irector gratefully. I wondered what he w as hiding.

Our turn.

Chiron spoke again, "I would like to int roduce our demigods."

I could hear muttering among the visitor s.

"Really?"

"Are they even real?"

"What's a demigod?"

The last comment came from Avery, and ve ry loudly. Everyone laugh. He blushed.

"Annabeth?" Chiron offered.

"This is Camp Half-Blood. Before you ask , I will explain the halves. Hear me ou t first. This world, as Sadie and Carter have proved, has the Egyptian gods - Ba s t, the cat goddess, Horus, Isis etcete ra . What you may not know is that both the Roman and Greek gods exist too. Howe ver , they pass on their powers as well, but not through possessive tendencies. Sorr y, Carter, Sadie, but it's the only word I could think of. All of us here a t Cam p, are half mortal, and half god."

"Wow!" Seth exclaimed. "That is so cool! "

"Unfortunately, most demigods don't surv ive long enough to make it to camp. Mon s ters and other angry gods chase us; hu nt us down."

"So," I began, "Most of us die before we 're thirteen, but other than the consta n t death threat, yeah, it's pretty cool ."

Thalia and Nico laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Kendra asked.

"It's so... Percy!" they both laughed. H aving said the same thing at the same t i me, they glared at each other.

"Okay," Annabeth continued, "I'm Annabet h Chase, proud daughter of Athena."

"I'm Clarisse la Rue, daughter of Ares. And no, you don't want to cross us," she glared.

"But if they cross you," I offered, "You 're welcome to ask me and my friends to kick their butts for you."

The visitors laughed nervously - hoping I wasn't serious, I guess.

"I'm Travis -"

"and I'm Conner-"

"Stoll," they chorused, "sons of Hermes and the best in the business!"

"Best in the business at what?" Hermione asked.

"Lying, Pranking and Thieving!" the brot her sang.

"That's barbaric!"

"Not if you're a child of Hermes," Travi s grinned at Conner.

"Which we are," Conner added.

Hermione scowled.

"Hey, Annabeth!" I said. "I think you an d Hermione would get along!"

Annabeth growled at me.

"Sorry!" I kissed her on the cheek.

"Seaweed Brain," she sighed.

"HEY! I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. Hey, hey, Seth! SHADOW TRAVEL!" He flash ed over to where Seth stood.

"AWESOME!" They hi-fived.

"Boys," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't get Nico angry, Hermione," I warned. "His dad is the Lord of the Dea d. That gives him certain powers."

"Yeah," Nico agreed, "Like controlling s keleton armies and bringing back the dea d, soul for a soul."

Hermione (and the other visitors too) gu lped.

"AWESOME!" Nico and Seth hi-fived again.

"BOYS!" Thalia yelled. "This is why I jo ined the Hunters! I'm Thalia Grace, dau g hter of Zeus, Lieutenant of Artemis." Sh e smiled at the girls and scowled at the demigod boys - plus Seth.

"I'm Jason Grace," Jason grinned. "I'm T halia's little brother, but I'm a son o f Jupiter, which is Zeus's Roman form. L i ke Evie, I can fly." He grinned again.

"I'm Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite , Jason's girlfriend and I can charmspe a k, which means you'll do whatever I sa y! Yay!"

"I'm Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild. The kid tending the dragons is Leo Vald ez, aka Flaming Valdez. He's a son of H e phaestus and has control over fire."

Java and Evie exchanged glances.

Everyone looked at me.

"I'm Perseus Jackson, Annabeth's boyfrie nd. I am a son of Poseidon, and a Hero o f Olympus. Well, all the demigods and sa tyrs here are. Call me Percy, or I'll le t the tide sweep you to the Atlantic oce an."

I stared at a glass of water sitting on the ping-pong table. Pretty quickly, it shot out of the cup and danced into a cr own on my head.

"You can see why Thalia, Jason, Nico and I weren't supposed to be born."

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "Zeus, Poseidon a nd Hades all broke the oath not to have any more children?"

Nico smirked. "Actually. no. I'm, like, seventy-five years old."

**Sorry this chapter was so long! Please r eview! I'll dedicate the next chapter t o the first three reviewers! If no one r e views, I will post every three weeks. If people review, I'll try to post once ve ry three days.**


	4. Kendra and Percy's Heart to Heart

**REVIEWS:**

**These reviews are from the original.**

**Here are my replies:**

**Leebecky06:** These are my favorite books too! That 's why I chose these ones. Also, becaus e they're quite different, but are all f a ntasy stories! Plus I wanted to incl ud e some characters from my own novel I 'm wr iting (Java, Avery, Evie and Olivi a). I hope you like! Thanks for reviewin g!

**HELOLO:** You haven't read them all? If you lik e fantasy, I suggest you do read them a l l. Summaries: ERAGON- dragons (elves/ h um ans/dwarves too!) fight against evi l, FABLEHAVEN- a sanctuary for magical c r eatu res, PJO/KANE CHRONICLES- gods/go dd esses , HARRY POTTER- wizards. My boo k- hasn't been published. YET.

**ChrysosArgentum:** Thank you for reviewing! I'm kinda just gonna go with the flow, so I;m not really sure how it's gonna play out either. We'll just have to see what happens.

**I dedicate this chapter to Leebecky06 for the continuous reviews!**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS

HEROES OF OLYMPUS

THE KANE CHRONICLES

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE

FABLEHAVEN

HARRY POTTER

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery and Evie and Olivia.**

* * *

**Percy's Point of View**

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not a ghost!"

The visitors continued to stare.

"I mean it! I wasn't brought back from t he dead! I swear it on the River Styx!"

Thunder rumbled across the clear sky. So me of the visitors looked confused. I n o ticed Avery, Java and Olivia looking a t Evie quizzically.

"It wasn't me," she whispered.

I thought I should explain. "The gods ha ve acknowledged the fact the Nico just s wore the most binding oath in our worl d - the same River oath that is the rea s on Nico, Thalia, Jason and I shouldn't e xi st. Our fathers swore NO MORE KIDS . A ctu ally, Nico doesn't count in this . Ha des was the only one to not break t he oa th. You insult a god, or make an o ath li ke t hat, the thunder will happen . For a bad insult, you may be vaporized , so do n't p ush it."

"Wow," Annabeth said. "Percy just gave a dvice! Good advice!"

I pouted, and she laughed before kissing me.

Thalia and the Stolls were too busy crac king up to notice.

"It's true," Nico said. "I was stashed a way in the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Ve g as with my sister. The casino speeds u p time, but halts aging. I was in ther e fo r about 70 years. My half-sister's th e d ead one. I brought her back." I n oti ced he said the last sentence quite smug ly.

"Okay," Chiron said. "May I explain why you are here?"

We all nodded eagerly.

"You are here because of the next Great Prophecy."

Annabeth and I groaned. Most of the newcomers looked at us quizzically. The campers glanced at us sympathetically.

"The Prophecy has not been shared with any of our campers, or those of Camp Jupiter, the only other demigod training camp. Only Lupa, my counterpart, and I know of its contents. We will share the Prophecy with you when we feel you are ready." Chiron breathed before beginning again. "You will be training together in order to learn each other's style and abilities. You will be expected to learn more about each other as people, too. You must stand united. United, we are strong enough. Divided, we are weak."

Harry whispered, "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

"Exactly," Chiron nodded. "Now, on that happy note, it's almost dinner. The conch horn will go any minute."

The conch horn blew across the camp. Chiron smiled.

"Come on," he said. "It's time to introduce you to the other campers."

* * *

I led the group towards the mess hall. Chiron brought up the rear. The other demigods were scattered among the visitors, explaining things. I wasn't really paying attention to anything. Actually, I was watching my feet as we walked. I felt it when someone fell into step with me. I could see their shoes, too. Actually, they weren't wearing any. I was surprised to look up and see Kendra walking alongside me, also watching her feet.

"Hey," I said, not sure of what else to say.

"Hey, she replied, looking up and giving me a small smile before looking down again.

We walked a few steps in silence, listening to the chatter going on behind us.

"What's it like?" I suddenly blurted out. "I mean, being here."

She looked at me, surprise etched across her face.

"It's a bit odd," she admitted. "One moment I was watching Seth and Mendigo, the puppet, practicing baseball, the next, I was falling into the middle of a field, hoping I wasn't going to land on one of the dragons." She took a deep breath. "It feels like I was dragged here against my will, just so that someone else's crazy plan could be fulfilled. I didn't have a say in the matter. My grandfather, grandmother and family friends are probably worried sick."

"Knowing the gods, your family will know exactly where you are, and probably why, too," I reassured her. "You're lucky. I had the same thing happen to me just over a year ago. Except, I lost my whole memory, too. Stupid Hera, Juno, whatever." I muttered the last sentence.

Thunder rumbled across the sky.

"WHAT?" I called up. "So I insulted you? Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Kendra looked at me with an odd expression on her face. It was like she was going to get angry at me for insulting someone that could incinerate me, but she knew it wasn't going to make any difference. Judging from Seth's behavior before and during reading, it was a look she used quite a lot.

"What about you?" she asked. "What's it like having all of us here?"

"It's cool," I answered. "It makes it not quite so cool having my thoughts read aloud to people I barely know, though I guess it's worse that the people I do know well are reading too, but it's still awesome. I never realised how many different ways there are to be involved with the non-mortal community." I'll admit it. I was amazed. Dragons, elves, demigods, wizards, shadow men, blessed-by-light people...

"What did you mean by 'blessed by light'? I asked suddenly.

"Oh, that." She blushed. "I'm fairykind. I can see in the dark etc. Like I said, Seth's the opposite. He can stay invisible in the shadows, and is immune to magical fear - don't let that fool you, he gets plenty scared. Just magical beings won't paralyze him."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, but don't let him hear you say that," she scoffed. "He has a big enough head as it is."

We halted at the edge of the pavilion.

"Follow me," Chiron told our visitors as the two of us swapped places.

**A/N: The poll is now definitely on my profile!**


	5. Brothers?

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery, Evie, Olivia and Zach**

* * *

Chiron led the group up past the many tables in the mess hall. He cleared his throat, and waited for silence before introducing the group.

"Hello, campers!" he began with a smile. "I know you are all very curious as to whom all of these wonderful visitors are. So, I would like to introduce: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, the wizards." Said wizards waved. "Eragon Bromsson and Queen Arya, the Dragon Riders, or Shur'tugal. Carter and Sadie Kane, our Egyptian magicians and godly hosts of Isis and Horus. Kendra and Seth Soreneson, fairy kind and shadow man, as he likes to be called, respectively, along with their animated puppet, Mendigo. And last but not least, Java Sparks, Avery Sullivan, Evelyn Bellum and Olivia Jones, the Merajiors."

The campers clapped.

"Now, visitors," Chiron said, "Do you mind me splitting up your little groups for dinner? You are here to learn more about each other, so I figured you should probably be organized into groups now, before any training happens."

The visitors all nodded.

"Okay then!" He smiled. "Sitting with the-"

Chiron was cut off by a scream.

Two boys, one actually probably an adult, had fallen straight onto the Ares table. The younger one was still standing. The older one was not. The younger one had long, sandy hair tied back in braids. At the end of each braid was a electric-blue bead, reminding me of Thalia's eyes. I guessed they were supposed o match his eyes too. He looked up at me, and held my gaze. In his eyes, I could see a lot - pain, excitement, despair, loneliness, but, most prominently, I saw loyalty. He looked away, scanning the crowd of visitors. The scrutinizing girl, Java, caught his eye.

"Hey, lil bro!" she called.

"Hey, big sis!" he called back. "Heard you'd gone some strange place. Followed you and met up with this guy, and - wow!" His eyes shone with excitement. "This place is AWESOME!"

"Where am I?" the older guy said dazedly. He had hit his head on the table when he landed. I was surprised that the younger guy - who could only be a year or two younger than me, maybe Piper's age - landed on his feet. It was impressive.

"You are at Camp Half-Blood," I called out to the older boy.

"Half what and half what?" he asked.

"Half mortal and half god," Annabeth said.

**A/N: For readers of the original, I hope the last couple of chapters flowed okay without the book input. Sorry, but I didn't want the story removed!**

**On a happier note, please read and review my other stories: 'Sils Jackson and Corpse Breath' and 'Two Weeks with a Demigod' and 'Trying for Eve'**

**Also, sorry this chapter was so short.**


	6. Splits and Trust

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery, Evie, Olivia and Zach **

* * *

Percy's POV

"Really?" the younger boy asked with wonder. "All these kids -" I gestured to the kids sitting at all the tables, "-are half _god_? I can't believe it! So gods really exist?"

I replied, "You'd better believe it, before one of them incinerates you, or turns you into a dolphin."

"I can do that already," the boy replied dismissively. It shocked me a little. Was he like Frank? "I don't need a gods help for that! What kind of gods? Greek? Roman? Egyptian?" His eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Well," Annabeth began, "Camp Half-Blood is more of a Greek demigod camp. However, Jason-" a blonde boy with electric blue eyes stepped forward " - is Roman, and Carter and Sadie are hosts for the Egyptian god Horus and the goddess Isis."

"No way!" the boy looked around before resting his gaze on Mr D. "You're a god," the boy called out. That shocked me too. "I can sense it," the boy finished.

The room was silent. I cleared my throat.

"Um," I started, "Before we do anything else, what are your names and titles?"

The older boy went first. "I'm Roran, Roran Stronghammer Garrowsson."

Eragon looked up. "Roran?" he asked incredulously.

"Eragon?" Roran replied.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"ERAGON!" Roran charged at us, pulling Eragon into a hug.

Annabeth was having none of it. "You can have your cozy catch-ups later." She turned to the younger boy. "What is your name?"

"I'm Zaccheus Lee, Sorcerer of Pandora, direct descendant of the first sorcerer's brother," he replied.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "You two come up here and we'll decide which groups to put you in. Now, all the kids here are seated with there half-siblings; others with the same godly parent. You guys will, obviously, be a little different. Chiron?"

"I'll start with the most obvious. Jason, can you please take Evelyn down to Lord Zeus's table?"

I noticed that Evie scowled when Chiron said Evelyn. I guess she doesn't like her full name either.

Chiron continued, "Lou Ellen?" a girl from one of the new tables walked up to the front. "Can you please take Carter, Sadie and Zaccheus with you to the Hecate table."

Zaccheus scowled. "If my sister doesn't go there, I don't either. You can't make me do something I don't want to do." His eyes flashed angrily.

"Actually," I replied, "he's the activity director, and the camp director is, as you pointed out in a way I don't understand, is a god. So they can."

His glare turned on me. I glared back. It felt like Mr D's glare when I was twelve, like it could drive someone mad.

Zaccheus stopped glaring. He looked surprised. "You're the first person who's ever been able to resist that glare. Hmm. I wonder why?"

"Never mind that, boys," Chiron said. "Let's continue. Zaccheus, you don't have to go to the Hecate table if you truly don't want to. However, we do need you to be with a group that will bring out the best in you. So, would you mind not being in a group with your sister if it was for the good of the war?"

"No, I wouldn't," the boy replied. "But I'm not going with... with _them_. They give me the creeps!" He shivered.

Most of the campers laughed.

Chiron continued, "We'll find somewhere for you then." He had on a calm mask, but I could tell he was trying not to smile. "So, Clarisse, take Roran to the Ares group." I immediately felt sorry for the guy. He was older than me, but still...

Suddenly, and image of Reyna appeared in the middle of nowhere.

"Chiron," she said. "The Party Ponies are trashing camp. Can you be here as soon as possible?"

"Of course. Percy, continue with the separation, please."

I nodded. Chiron cantered out of the pavilion.

"Okay," I began. "Olivia... I know! Travis, Conner, do the honors!"

The brothers grabbed one of Olivia's arms each and marched her to the Hermes table. Everyone was laughing at their antics as the took her there.

"Now, Annabeth? Please take Hermione to the Athena table."

"Ooh!" Hermione squealed. "She's my favorite goddess!"

"She'd better be," Annabeth glared.

I laughed at my girlfriend. So loyal to her mother. I decided to keep talking, "Harry... I think you can go to the Nike group. She's the goddess of victory. Ron... Tyche. She's the goddess of luck."

The two head counsellors walked up to the head table and back to their tables, new members in tow.

"Seth and Kendra. Either both of you to Nemesis, or... No. Nico, take Seth to your table."

"Yessss!" the boys yelled. "Shadows rule! Hi-five!"

"Kendra... go with the Tyche children for now." I locked eyes with Thalia. She nodded at me. I was glad she understood. "Java, the same, but with Nike."

The two girls nodded and walked to where they'd seen Harry and Ron go.

"Eragon and Arya. Arya, definitely to the Hecate table. Eragon... Java? Can I have some help here?"

She ran back to the head table.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Can you break someone's mental barriers. I can't read minds, but I can read people. He's blocking me. Can you do it?"

"I-I think so." She concentrated for a moment. "Sorry, no. It's too hard. He's certainly mentally strong."

I nodded, thinking hard. "Chiron will want to speak with you. I can tell you're wary. You don't trust me, or any of us. What if..." I turned to the campers. "Can we prove to him that he can trust us?"

The campers shouted, "Yes!"

"Any ideas?" I asked.

"Charmspeaking?" Drew asked.

"No," I replied. "We can't force him to trust us, that would make him actually trust us less later."

Piper spoke up from somewhere beside me. "Arya trusts us," she began. I glanced at her warily, but couldn't sense any charm in her voice. "If she can trust us, surely you can."

Eragon stiffened beside me. "Arya trusts... Okay." He took a deep breath. "I won't block you. But that doesn't mean I trust you."

I nodded approvingly. "Wise decision. I think most of us here would do the same. So... Annabeth, take him to the Athena table."

My beautiful girlfriend ran back to the head table, grabbed Eragon's wrist and ran back. I laughed as he was dragged away and forced to sit down.

"What about us?" an impatient voice said from behind me.

"Yes, Zaccheus. You'll be with me. Avery, come too, for now. Chiron will want to speak to you as well. Piper, you can go and sit down."

I led Avery and Zaccheus towards the Poseidon table. When we sat down, Zaccheus and I talked for a little bit while Avery sat and stared into space. The Apollo kids were entertaining everyone while we waited for Chiron. After about five minutes, and Chiron was due to be back any minute, I noticed something.

Avery was unconscious, and his chest wasn't rising and falling.

**Sort of a cliffhanger! Ish! I hope you liked it! Please review ASAP! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! If I don't get many reviews I'll update in a couple of weeks. A few reviews, and I'll update in a few days!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Waking Avery

**I haven't had many reviews so far... I'm a bit upset about that... for those of you who want them to read the books, they'll get there soon! Sorry this chapter's so short: the next one will be uploaded tomorrow, or maybe even late today! It was originally one super-long chapter, but I decided it was****_ too_**** long, so I split it!**

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (Rick Riordan)

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (Rick Riordan)

THE KANE CHRONICLES (Rick Riordan)

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE (Christopher Paolini)

FABLEHAVEN (Brandon Mull)

HARRY POTTER (JK Rowling)

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery, Evie, Olivia and Zach **

* * *

Zach's POV

"Avery?" I said, shaking his shoulder. "Avery!"

He didn't respond. I wasn't too worried - it had happened before. Percy looked like he was going to have a heart attack, though. I glanced over at Nico, who caught my pleading look.

"Percy," he called out. "He's fine!"

Percy relaxed immediately. I saw Evie glance over at me, worried. I knew she was quite protective of Avery, ever since he almost dec saving her younger brother and sister's lives. Plus she had a huge crush on him - which he returned. Sometimes their infuriating oblivion really frustrated me. I gave her a reassuring smile, and she looked away and began talking to Jason again. Java stood and raised her eyebrow at me from the other side of the room. I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. She sat down again, satisfied.

I knelt down and rested my head against Avery's stomach. I could hear the steady thrum of his heartbeat below his t-shirt. I raised my head and blew softly through his ear. He shuddered once before his eyes fluttered open. Percy looked at me incredulously. I just shrugged, as if to say, 'Hey, it's a talent!'

What I think shocked Percy the most was the way Avery just sat up and struck up an ordinary conversation with me, as if he'd just fallen asleep - which, though Percy thought he'd been unconscious, he had.

After everyone had finished eating, and multiple conversations had been held, Chiron finally arrived back from where he'd left to.

"Campers and guests!" he called. "I hope you enjoyed your meal! Now, could the cabin counselors please meet me in the Big House, along with all of our visitors? Thank you!"

Percy stood up and motioned Avery and I to follow. So we did.

* * *

Percy led us to the house we'd been in before eating dinner. He walked into a rec room and announced that all of their war meetings were held there.

I immediately burst out laughing. So did Avery. Percy looked at us like we were lunatics.

"You... hold ... your... most serious... meetings..." Avery choked.

"Around... a... ping-pong... table?" I gasped out.

Percy finally saw what we were laughing about and joined in. Soon we were lying on the ground, clutching our stomachs. This was what Annabeth and Hermione walked in to see.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"We.. hold... our..." Percy began.

"Most... serious... meetings..." Avery continued.

"Around... a... ping-pong... table!" I finished.

Annabeth giggled a little before assuming a more serious expression.

"Hermione?" she began. "See that chair over there with the silver owl on the back? Grab a spare chair and sit yourself by that one. Percy, tell the boys where they need to sit. I need to talk with Chiron."

She walked over and gave Percy a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the Big House.

Hermione walked into the rec room and pulled a stick thing out of her... robes? I immediately knew what it was. We had been taught about people with magical blessings, and the different ways they channeled their power. Hermione was a witch, and Harry and Ron were wizards - they used wands. Hermione muttered two words (_Wingardium Leviosa_) that sounded a little like Latin, but weren't (and I'd know - I speak it!), and a chair was levitated into the air. It floated across the room and touched down by Annabeth's chair. Percy, who had by then sat down, fell off his chair in surprise. I didn't bother with making objects fly. I simply imagined a two simple wooden chairs with a trident and sword crossed together as the logo. They appeared next to Percy's chair just as he picked himself up off the ground. He promptly fell over again in shock. Hermione looked shocked too. Avery just looked at me like, _That's it?_ I rolled my eyes at him before imagining arms on the chairs and a sea-green fluffy pillow on each. The new chairs also had cushiony backs, and the logos were stitched on. As you could guess, Percy fell off his chair again. When he clambered back on it, I imagined two things on his chair: a cushion on the seat like mine and Avery's and a seatbelt to keep him on the chair. The seatbelt didn't quite work the way I wanted it too - the chair tipped over sideways with Percy as he landed on the ground with a thud. Avery and I laughed - really hard. I noticed Hermione still staring at me. It was starting to get uncomfortable, so I decided to ask her what was wrong.

"Hermione?" I began tentatively. There was no response. "Hermione!" I shouted, hoping to drag her out of her daze.

"What?" she replied, snapping out of her stupor.

"Why were you staring at me?"

She didn't respond immediately. I guessed she was deciding how to word her response - and there was a 99.99% chance I was right.

"The chairs," she started. "That's really advanced magic! And without a wand..."

"It's not that hard for someone of my bloodline," I explained. I quickly began again to avoid her getting offended, "I am descended from the second sorcerer to ever exist - the first died when he was eleven. At least, she's the second sorcerer in our history. Yours may be different. We aren't human - technically. We look human, we act human, we sound human, but we aren't. And we don't use wands. I don't need anything to channel my power. Avery, however, does. I think he's descended from the thirteenth sorcerer. Avery, show her what you have."

Avery pulled a small bronze ball from his pocket before re-pocketing it again.

"We use those. I don't need one. My... magic, as you call it, is too powerful. It'd break. But I'm not that powerful. If you want to see power, you need to see Grey when he's angry. He's more powerful than me - and he's eleven."

Hermione looked shocked. But, yes, Seth Grey was way more powerful than me. Although his name was Seth, I decided not to call him that here, as there was a Seth in the group of visitors.

Thankfully, the awkward moment was broken by the others entering the room. I decided to have a little fun.

When Chiron arrived, the two identical-looking boys were shocked. I could tell they loved my handiwork.

* * *

Travis's POV

Wow. The rec room was incredible. Someone or maybe someones had played multiple pranks on people. Clarisse was trying to rip a pink love-heart pillow off her chair (and failing miserably, I might add - this person sure didn't do things by halves!); Thalia's chair was levitated so her feet were a foot off the ground; Piper was wearing an outfit similar to the one she was forced into the night she was claimed as Aphrodite's daughter; Leo was in a cage made of water - and I could tell he was upset that he couldn't use his fire powers to brea himself out. All in all - it was hilarious.

"Who did this?" Conner and I chorused, both laughing hysterically.

One of the latecomers - the younger one - stood up.

"Me," he replied, looking completely unashamed and not scared of punishment at all. He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. One of his friends was failing miserably at this simple task. I knew he'd be a terrible pranker - but maybe a good look-out.

"This is-" Conner began.

"So cool!" I finished.

"I'm glad you like it!" he said, beaming. "But I think I'll put them right now."

We groaned, but couldn't stop him. Suddenly, the cage and cushion vanished, Piper's outfit was restored, and Thalia was lowered to the ground. I stared at him in shock. He looked at Clarisse thoughtfully as she sat down, and suddenly the pink pillow reappeared.

"Clarisse," Chiron began as Clarisse stood up to pull it off, "Just sit down. I'm sure Zaccheus will remove it later."

The boy - Zaccheus - wrinkled his nose and said, "It's Zach. Just Zach."

I could tell he was as uncomfortable about his name as Percy was about his full name - Perseus.

Chiron cleared his throat. "I am hear because it has been decided that all great heroes must learn about each other's trials and tribulations, so we may attempt to overcome any new forces of evil the fates may throw at us. All of us here today have suffered at the hands of evil, so we must learn about each other so we may aid each other in any possible way. I have decided that Percy's story will be told first."

"Aw, man!" Percy complained. "Why me?"

"Because you are the eldest of the original heroes chosen to come here. This does not include Zach and Roran, of course, as their arrival was a surprise."

"Chiron?" Nico began. I knew what he was going to say. "I actually believe I am the eldest here," Nico said, confirming my theory on what he was going to say. "You are the only one in this room to rival my age."

"How?" Harry asked. I groaned. I really wish he hadn't said that.

"I'm, like, seventy-four," Nico replied. "I was born in the 1940's."

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! I swear on the River Styx they will start reading next chapter! I promise!**

**Reviews are not necessary, but are appreciated.**

**Thanks,**

**BJ :-)**


	8. Vaporizing a Maths Teacher

**REVIEWS:**

**I just decided to reply to all my reviews:**

**Sweet Cynthia: **Yes, they will be reading! They're reading this chapter, in fact! I'm glad you found it exciting!

**Guest: **I can't stand cliffs either... but they're so much fun to write! I'm glad you liked it!

**Other guest: **I will bring those four in at some point, don't worry!

**Third guest: **Thanks!

**Guest/HALFBLOODPRINCE: **Thanks for reviewing so much! I'm glad you like it! How's you're _Supernatural _story coming along?

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS

HEROES OF OLYMPUS

THE KANE CHRONICLES

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE

FABLEHAVEN

HARRY POTTER

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery, Evie, Olivia and Zach.**

* * *

**Percy's Point of View**

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not a ghost!"

The visitors continued to stare.

"I mean it! I wasn't brought back from the dead! I swear it on the River Styx!"

Thunder rumbled across the clear sky. Some of the visitors looked confused. I noticed Avery, Java and Olivia looking at Evie quizzically.

"It wasn't me," she whispered.

I thought I should explain. "The gods have acknowledged the fact the Nico just swore the most binding oath in our world - the same River oath that is the reason Nico, Thalia, Jason and I shouldn't exiist. Our fathers swore NO MORE KIDS . Actually, Nico doesn't count in this . Hades was the only one to not break the oath. You insult a god, or make an oath li ke t hat, the thunder will happen . For a bad insult, you may be vaporized , so don't p ush it."

"Wow," Annabeth said. "Percy just gave advice! Good advice!"

I pouted, and she laughed before kissing me.

Thalia and the Stolls were too busy cracking up to notice.

"It's true," Nico said. "I was stashed a way in the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Vegas with my sister. The casino speeds up time, but halts aging. I was in there for about 70 years. My half-sister's the dead one. I brought her back." I noticed he said the last sentence quite smugly.

"Okay," Chiron said. "I didn't fully explain before. May I elaborate?"

We all nodded.

"You are here, because of the next Great Prophecy."

All us demigods groaned - but me the loudest, because these prophecies always seemed to involve me.

"You must learn about each other before anything else happens. So, books have been written about you all. Most have already been released into the mortal world - or Muggle, for you wizards - as we know of Harry's adventures and near-death experiences."

They groaned.

Chiron looked at the group of five. "Your adventures are yet to be written of. We will learn about you as we read the other non-mortals' stories, okay?"

We all nodded again.

"I think we'll start with the familiar," Chiron began. "Percy? As I said earlier, we'll read of your first quest first. Here's the book. Why don't you the first chapter?"

"Because reading's hard, that's why," I grumbled.

"No it's not," most of the visitors said .

"Yes, it is!" the demigods argued.

Only Eragon had the sense to ask, "Why?"

"We're all dyslexic," Annabeth answered. "Every demigod is dyslexic and ADHD. At least, most are. There is the rare occasion where a demigod isn't. But ADHD helps us stay alive in battle, and dyslexia hardwires our brains for Ancient Greek."

"Never to fear, Percy!" Chiron said. I groaned.

"We have Greek copies of everything too, don't we?" I groaned.

"Of course."

"Fine. I'll read then." I took the book from his hand. "I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"No one does," the demigods agreed.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you, and try to lead a normal life.**

"Um, we're already here," Nico pointed out. "We already know."

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"No, it's sunshine and lollipops." Thalia rolled her eyes at me.

**It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Or gets you turned into a pine tree," Grover muttered, still guilty.

"Grover, it wasn't your fault!" Thalia, Annabeth and I all yelled at him.

"Seriously, Grover. I would've done the same thing," Thalia reassured him.

"We all would," Clarisse said. We all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we get on with the book before any questions are asked?" Grover pleaded.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might one of us. And once you know that, it' s only a matter of time before ****_they _****sense it too, and they'll come after you .**

"Way to be cryptic," Annabeth raised her eyebrows.

"So I'm supposed to say, 'RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! MONSTERS EAT ME, AND THEY'LL EAT YOU TOO!'?"

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Then they'd know.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't," Clarisse said, rolling her eyes. I swore to myself to punch her later, then realized what particular incident we'd be reading about later. Clarisse seemed to realize too. She looked at the book with wide eyes before glaring at me.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"So I've heard," everyone said.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a trouble d kid? Yeah. You could say that. I coul d start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth- grade class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That sounds like torture!" Nico, Travis , Conner, Clarisse, Thalia, Harry, Ron, Avery, Sadie, Jason and Seth all said.

**I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yan y field trips were.**

"Hey!" Nico said. "We all think like Percy!"

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

"Is that Chiron?" Clarisse asked.

I nodded.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool , but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weap ons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"Yeah, that's him." Thalia smiled.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least , I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"Dun dun duuun." Three guesses as to which two children of the shadows said that .

**See, bad things happen to me on field tr ips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the sc h oo l bus, but of course I got expelled a nyw ay. And before that, at my fourth -gr ade school, when we took a behind-th e-sc enes tour of the Marine World shark pool , I sort of hit the wrong lever on the c atwa lk and our class took an unp lanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you g et the idea.**

"What?" Seth pouted. "That's all you're going to tell us? No fair!"

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Right," Thalia scoffed. "Percy. Good. H a!"

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded k leptomaniac girl, hitting my best frien d Grover in the back of the head wit nks of peanut butter-and- ketchup sa nd wi ch.**

"Sounds really annoying," Thalia comment ed.

"She was," Grover and I said at the same time.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawn y. He cried when he got frustrated. He m ust've been held back several grades, be cause he was the only sixth grader wi th acne and the start of a wispy bear i s chin. On top of all that, he was crip pled. He had a note excusing him fr om P E for the rest of his life becaus ad some kind of muscular disease in h is le gs. He walked funny, like every st e p hur t him, but don't let that fool yo u. You should've seen him run when it wa s enchi lada day in the cafeteria.**

All the demigods, plus Chiron, Hermione and Evie, glared at Grover.

"What?" he asked.

"Way to blow your cover!" Thalia snorted .

"Actually, Grover," Chiron started, "It wasn't exactly the best idea."

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brow n hair, and she knew I couldn't do anyt h ing back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threat e ne d me with death by in-school suspen si on if anything bad, embarrassing, or eve n m ildly entertaining happened on t his trip .**

"That's just boring," Nico, Travis, Conn er and Seth complained.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay . I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch .**

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Gr over pulled me back to my seat.**

**"You're already on probation," he remind ed me. "You know who'll get blamed if a n ything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Na ncy Bobofit right then and there. In-sc h ool suspension would've been nothing c om pared to the mess I was about to ge t mys elf into."**

"What did you do this time, Percy?"

**"Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rod e up front in his wheelchair, guiding u s through the big echoey galleries, pas t marble statues and glass cases full of r eally old black-and-orange pottery. I t b lew my mind that this stuff had surv i ved for two thousand, three thousand y ea rs. **

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-ta ll stone column with a big sphinx on th e top, and started telling us how it wa s a grave marker, a stele, for a girl a our age. He told us about the carv in gs on the sides. I was trying to list en to what he had to say, because it was ki nd of interesting, but everybody aro und me was talking, and every time I tol d th em to shut up, the other teacher-ch apero n, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the e vil ey e. **

"Lovely," I heard Annabeth mutter.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black lea ther jacket, even though she was fifty y ears old. She looked mean enough to ri de a Harley right into your locker. She ha d come to Yancy halfway through the y ear , when our last math teacher had a n ervo us breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nan cy Bobofit and figured I was devil spaw n . She would point her crooked finger a t me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet , an d I knew I was going to get after-s ch ool detention for a month.**

**One time, after she'd made me erase answ ers out of old math workbooks until mid n ight, I told Grover I didn't think Mr s . Dodds was human. He looked at me, re al s erious, and said,"You're absolutely r igh t."**

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek fun eral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered somethi ng about the naked guy on the stele, an d I turned around and said, "Will yo up?" It came out louder than I mea nt i t to.**

"Of course it did," Java laughed.

** The whole group laughed. Mr. Br unn er stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**  
**My face was totally red. I said, "No, si r."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictur es on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell u s what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flus h of relief, because I actually recogni z ed it. "That's Kronos eating his kids , r ight?"**  
**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not s atisfied. "And he did this because..."**  
**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"**

Thunder rumbled across the sky.

"Oops," Percy said.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the god s. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But h is wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Ze us grew up, he tricked his dad, Krono s, into barfing up his brothers and sis t ers —"**

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. **

**"—and so there was this big fight betwee n the gods and the Titans," I continued , "and the gods won."**

"How long was that war?" Arya asked. I w as shocked. I'd forgotten she was there, she'd been so quiet.

"One sentence, according to Percy," Erag on replied.

I frowned at him.

**Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Lik e we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job appli c ations, 'Please explain why Kronos at e h is kids.'"**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "t o paraphrase MissBobofit's excellent qu e stion, does this matter in real life? " **

"BUSTED!" the boys yelled.

** "Busted," Grover muttered.**

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even b righter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brun ner was the only one who ever caught he r saying anything wrong. He had rada s.**

**I thought about his question, and shrugg ed. "I don't know, sir."**

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed . "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mus t ard and wine, which made him disgorge hi s other five children, who, of cours e , b eing immortal gods, had been livin g and growing up completely undigested i n the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated t heir father, sliced him to pieces wit h h is o wn scythe, and scattered his re main s in Tartarus, the darkest part of the U nderw orld. On that happy note, it 's tim e for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would yo u lead us bac k outside?"**

"Happy note?" Carter said. "Chiron, reall y?"

**"The class drifted off, the girls holdin g their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**  
**Grover and I were about to follow when M r. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**  
**I knew that was coming.**  
**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turn ed toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that coul d've been a thousand years old and had s een everything."**

**"You must learn the answer to my questio n," Mr. Brunner told me.**  
**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies a pply to it."**  
**"Oh."**  
**"What you learn from me," he said, "is v itally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed m e so hard.**

"That's kind of his job," Travis said.

I glared at him.

He gulped.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tou rnament days, when he dressed up i it o f Roman armor and shouted: "What h o! '" and challenged us, sword-point aga ins t chalk, to run to the board and na ery Greek and Roman person who had eve r lived, and their mother, and what g od th ey worshipped. But Mr. Brunner exp e cted me to be as good as everybody else , desp ite the fact that I have dyslexia and at tention deficit disorder and I h ad never made above a C— in my life. No — he didn' t expect me to be as good; he e xpected m e to be better. And I just cou ldn't lear n all those names and fac ts, much less s pell them correctly.**

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad loo k at the stele, like he'd been at this g irl's funeral.**

Chiron bowed his head. I guessed he had been.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunc h.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the fo ot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weathe r all across New York state had been we i rd since Christmas. We'd had massive s no w storms, flooding, wildfires from li ght ning strikes. I wouldn't have bee n s urpr ised if this was a hurricane bl owin g in. **

"And the gods come in!"

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of th e guys were pelting pigeons with Luncha b les crackers.**

**Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket s omething from a lady's purse,**

"Not your sister?" Rachel asked.

"NO WAY!" Travis and Conner yelled.

"We might be annoying-"

"- but we're not mean!"

**and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the foun tain, away from the others. We thought t hat maybe if we did that, everybody wo ul dn't know we were from that school— chool for loser freaks who couldn' t make it elsewhere.**

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean— I'm not a genius."**

I glared at everyone before they could c omment.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to giv e me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I ha v e your apple?"**

Everyone laughed.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown fr om where we sat. I hadn't seen her sinc e Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and b e glad to see me, but she'd be disappo in t ed, too. She'd send me right bac an cy, remind me that I had to try h arde r, even if this was my sixth school in s ix years and I was probably going to be kic ked out again. I wouldn't be a ble to sta nd that sad look she'd give m e.**

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate ce lery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of h is chair, making it look like a motori ze d cafe table.**

"I'm going to asked Leo to build me one, " Nico said.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when N ancy Bobofit appeared in front of me wi t h her ugly friends—I guess she'd gott e n tired of stealing from the tourists— an d dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grov er' s lap.**

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crook ed teeth. Her freckles were orange, as i f somebody had spray-painted her face wi th liquid Cheetos.**

**I tried to stay cool.**

"Tried' being the key word," Sadie po in ted out.

**The school counselor had told me a milli on times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind w ent blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

**I don't remember touching her, but the n ext thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on h er butt in the fountain, screaming, "P er cy pushed me!"**

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did y ou see—"**

**"—the water—"**

**"—like it grabbed her—"**

**I didn't know what they were talking abo ut.**

"AWESOME!" Seth and Nico hi-fived me.

**All I knew was that I was in trouble aga in.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor litt le Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, et c ., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. The r e was a triumphant fire in her eyes, a s if I'd done something she'd been waiti ng f or all semester. "Now, honey—"**

**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing wo rkbooks."**

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Travis and Conner yelled. "DON"T GUESS YOUR PUNISHMENT!"

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"SEE?"

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pus hed her."**

"Good friend," Annabeth smiled.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't bel ieve he was trying to cover for me. Mrs . Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery c hin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she s aid.**

**"But—"**

**"You—will—stay—here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks fo r trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." **

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"Not as scary as my dad's," Clarisse smi rked.

I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later -stare. She gulped.

"Okay, it is scarier."

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but sh e wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the s teps, gesturing impatiently at me to c om e on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something , as if a puzzle piece fell out of the u niverse and left me staring at the bla nk place behind it. The school counselo r t old me this was part of the ADHD, my bra in misinterpreting things.**

All the half-bloods and I shared an unde rstanding look.

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like h e wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed i n his novel.**

"Why weren't you watching him?" Annabeth groaned.

"Chiron really, _really _likes books." Grover laughed.

"Oh, many reasons," Chiron answered.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappe ared again. She was now inside the buil d ing, at the end of the entrance hall. **

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift sh op. But apparently that wasn't the plan . I followed her deeper into the museum . When I finally caught up to her, we we r e back in the Greek and Roman for us, th e gallery was empty. Mrs. Dodds stood wi t h her arms crossed in front of a b ig m ar ble frieze of the Greek gods. Sh e was ma king this weird noise in her th roat, lik e growling.**

"Clue number... how many times has she s eemed not-normal?"

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a t eacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Somethin g about the way she looked at the friez e , as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing.**

"Since when do you do that?" most of the demigods asked.

**I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather j acket. "Did you really think you would g et away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought ner vously. It's not like she's going to hu r t me.**

"No, of course not," Nico said sarcastic ally sweetly. "She's only going to kill you!"

**I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"Woah!" Avery exclaimed. "This storm is worse than when Evie was angry! Remember - both Aaliya and I were in hospital? Y ou were so mad, I could feel the air sha king, and I was in a coma!"

Evie grimaced, nodding. I wondered what had happened.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of tim e before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about .**

**All I could think of was that the teache rs must've found the illegal stash of c a ndy I'd been selling out of my dorm r o om .**

"That is definitely it," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"YAY, PERCY!" Travis and Conner cheered.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, t hey were going to make me read the book . **

"It's a good book!" Annabeth protested.

"Book. Exactly," Nico scoffed.

"If you read it in ancient Greek..." I h eard Annabeth trailed off. I'd have to t ry that sometime. Or not. But I was sure Annabeth was going to make me anyway.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her ey es began to glow like barbecue coals. H e r fingers stretched, turning into tal o ns . Her jacket melted into large, lea th ery wings. She wasn't human. She was a s hri veled hag with bat wings and cla ws a nd a mouth full of yellow fangs, an d she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, h olding a pen in his hand.**  
**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lun ged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons sl ash the air next to my ear. I snatched t he ballpoint pen out of the air, but w he n it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen an y mor e. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's br on ze s word, which he always used on to urn ament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murdero us look in her eyes. My knees were jell y . My hands were shaking so bad I almo s t dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die , ho ney!" And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I d id the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hi sh oulder and passed clean through he r bod y as if she were made of water.**

**Hisss!**

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, va porized on the spot, leaving nothing bu t the smell of sulfur and a dying scree c h and a chill of evil in the air, a hose two glowing red eyes were still w at ching me.**  
**I was alone.**  
**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**  
**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was the re but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mus hrooms or something.**

**Had I imagined the whole thing? I went b ack outside. It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a mu seum map tented over his head. Nancy Bo b ofit was still standing there, soaked fr om her swim in the fountain, grumbli her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped you r bu tt."**

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she wastalking about. She just rolled her eyes and turn ed away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodd s was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

"It was so frustrating when you did that , you know," I frowned.

"Yeah, but if you knew you would have be en attacked again a lot sooner," Grover reass u red me.

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't loo k at me, so I thought he was messing wi t h me.**

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is s erious." Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbre l la, reading his book, as if he'd neve r m oved. I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. J ackson."**

"See, Chiron did it," Grover smug s mile lit up his face as he started to r e ca ll several events.

"Except he was good at it," I pointed ou t. "With you, I knew you were lying, and that was infuriating!"

"Ooh!" Thalia shrieked. "Percy used a bi g-boy word!"

I glared at her. She glared back.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't e ven realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other chaperon. Mrs. Dodds. The pre -algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mild ly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. D odds on this trip. As far as I know, t he re has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Ya n cy Academy. Are you feeling all right? "**

"Okay," I breathed. "I'm done. Who's reading next?"

* * *

**Hey guys! Finally - they read! Hope you liked it. **

**I'm going to say this as I have previously attempted writing a reading-the-books story, and have had horrible reviews going on and on about laws etc: I do not care if tis story is deleted, as long as I can write it for as long as possible. I will keep writing it until itself removes it, or I get a nasty letter from one of the published authors. A lot of others have written reading-the-books stories, so if they're not getting in trouble for it as well, I don't care what some guest reviewer has to say about it.**

**Sorry about that rant, but I hope you understand how infuriating the reviews on my old story were.**

**Thanks to my reviewers! I'll try to reply to any new ones on the next chapter or two!**

**BJ :-)**


	9. Three Old Ladies

**Sorry, no review responses this chapter, as I posted two chapters in one day, one right after the other.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX THAT I DO NOT OWN:**

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS

HEROES OF OLYMPUS

THE KANE CHRONICLES

THE INHERITANCE CYCLE

FABLEHAVEN

HARRY POTTER

**OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS**

**But I swear on the River Styx that I do own Java, Avery, Evie, Olivia and Zach.**

* * *

_"Okay," I breathed. "I'm done. Who's reading next?"_

"I will," Hermione said. Chiron pulled out an English copy and handed it to her.

** I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty- four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"You are psycho," most of the demigods said.

I glared to shut them up. It worked.

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**  
**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was knew what was going on. Something had happened at the museum.**

"GROVER!" the Stolls yelled. "We're giving you LYING LESSONS! As soon as we finish this chapter. Right before the campfire!"

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Zeus is cranky..."

Thalia and Jason glared around the room, trying to figure out who had said that.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Everyone looked around at each other, confused.

"It means an old drunk!" Annabeth, Hermione and Evie all said.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**  
**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**  
**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"Awww! How sweet!"

"He's a great friend," Grover agreed.

"And an even better boyfriend." Annabeth smiled at me before giving me a kiss.

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"Really?" Chiron asked.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"You do now," Annabeth said to me.

The visitors glanced at each other. Hermione and Evie looked kind of shocked - I think they knew _exactly _who Charon was, and I could almost see the gears turning as they attempted to figure something out.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"Wow, Percy! Another big-boy word!" Nico snickered.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

Annabeth smiled and held onto my hand tighter.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said"... worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

"Sure, sure," Nico teased.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. **

"Good point," Seth said. "It's horrific!"

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—"**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"I believe he still enjoys his "ignorance"," Nico admitted.

**"Sir, he saw her... ."**  
**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. **

"NOOOOOOOO!" I'll give you one guess. "NEVER GIVE AWAY YOUR POSITION!"

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**  
**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**  
**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**  
**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**  
**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. **

"Good," Conner said.

"Waiting until the coast is clear," his brother finished.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**  
**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**  
**I didn't answer.**  
**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**  
**"Just... tired."**  
**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back.**

**They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. **

"Nancy likes Percy!" Piper squealed.

"How do you know?"

"Goddess of love... my mom... get it?"

** I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say.**

**"This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**  
**"Right," I said, trembling.**  
**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"And I'm sure he just made it a whole lot worse," Nico rolled his eyes.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.**  
**"Percy—"**  
**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"Did he give you a heart attack Grover?" Eragon asked quietly.

"Almost," Grover replied.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**  
**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**  
**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**  
**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."**

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**  
**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**  
**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

"Who was unintelligent enough to make business cards that the receivers can't read?" Arya asked.

"Mr D," the demigods chorused.

**but I finally made out something like:**

**_Grover Underwood_**

**_Keeper_**

**_Half-Blood Hill_**

**_Long Island, New York_**

**_(800) 009-0009_**

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**  
**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."**  
**"Why would I need you?"**

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

"Protecting you from monsters, not mortals," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"Uh, oh," Annabeth's eyes got big, along with Evie's, Hermione's and Zach's.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"No, they couldn't be...," Thalia trailed off, just as worried as Annabeth.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**  
**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**  
**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**  
**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**  
**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**  
**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

As Thalia read this I noticed everybody catch their breath.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Annabeth whispered.

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**  
**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**  
**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"I doubt the bus will protect you," Nico said as his face got paler.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.**

"How is that possible? You are alive. That couldn't have been your fate," Annabeth tried to reassure herself.

"It wasn't." I said gravely.

"How could it not be his fate?" Thalias eyes knitted together in confusion.

"It was Luke's," I said, looking down. Hermione paused reading as the demigods had a moment of silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that our guests had their heads down too. I was grateful to them for that.

After about a minute, Hermione started reading again.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

"I'm sure he feels very proud of himself," Nico tried to lighten the mood.

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**  
**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**  
**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?" **

"Everything," the demigods whispered.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

"Hm, very observant," Annabeth commented.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**  
**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**  
**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**  
**"What last time?"**  
**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**  
**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**  
**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**  
**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**  
**No answer.**  
**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. **

"Done!" Hermione said brightly. "Who wants the book?"

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! Aren't you lucky? 2 chapters in an hour! I'm sorry about the rant at the end of the last chapter, but I really had to get that off my chest.**

**Post for you soon!**

**BJ :-)**


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